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Monday, June 15, 2009

Hokkien Food @ Restoran Hua Xing, Sungai Way, Petaling Jaya

the sinful thick slices of Hokkien braised pork

Yawn! Exhausting weekend running around as usual plus I worked on Sunday. Such peace and quiet in the office, that it was extremely productive. For dinner, I wanted to try something new hence my friend S suggested this place she read from the papers. I vaguely remember my mother raving about this place that serves Hokkien cuisine. Must be good stuff since my mother is Hokkien lang!

Tucked in a complex behind the main road, getting here can be quite scary if you're doing it alone. Luckily when I got here, there were still people around the ground floor area hence it was not too bad. The restaurant in on the first floor and you have the option to sit inside the enclosed air-conditioned area or outside on the balcony. Packed with families having their weekend meal, we quickly ordered their specialties and waited for the food to come. This place is super popular having been featured by Chui Ling on her television series, 1 day 5 meals (incidentally I caught an episode on Saturday night and she has a blog with all her recommendations) and various English and Chinese newspapers including a thumbs up from the famous Lai Meng, the actress from the oldtime television drama, 4 Sekawan.

the addictively good crispy eggplant with fried garlic bits

We went for the Hokkien braised pork (foong yuk pork with kan sui kow), which was served with alkaline kuih. The chewy white cakes were an acquired taste even though you ladle loads of sauce and the fatty pork bits. Braised with dark soy sauce in a claypot and we reckon a hint of Chinese herbs, the pork was sinfully good. Each fat slice of braised pork is a contrast of textures; the combination of slightly harder tasting meat with the thickly cut melt-in-the-mouth fat. Yums, porky goodness!

Another signature dish, we loved was the fried crispy brinjal. Sprinkled with salt and squeezed till dry, the eggplant was coated with flour, fried till crisp and stir fried with finely chopped fried garlic bits and chopped spring onions. Addictively good stuff. However the texture is a little different from normal fried eggplant as squeezing the moisture out means no soft centre in the middle when it is deep fried.

Other goodies we also had was the deep fried tofu - nice and soft with a crisp exterior, the beancurd was home made with a slightly unsmooth texture. Finally we had the delicious tapioca flour noodles fried with minced pork, bean sprouts and Chinese parsley. The texture of the noodles is slightly chewy but not very noticeable as they shredded the noodles in thin strips. Originally, we also ordered fried glass noodles (tung fun) with bittergourd but since that didn't come we changed it to a fried vegetables with garlic that balanced off the sinful meal we had.

No breakdown for the meal's prices but the total cost for dinner was RM70 (RM66 for food and RM4 for Chinese tea, which we drank continously to stave off the oiliness). Looking through the menu, I could pick out other food I don't mind returning to try - Foochow red chicken, fried sweet potato flour noodles, Ulu Yam Lor mee and etc. For more pictures, see the Flickr set.

(Non halal. Place opens from 11.30am to 3pm, 6 to 10pm. To get here from Federal Highway from Shah Alam, go up the ramp for Sungai Way and keep left, take the second turning on the left hand side which says one way street and then turn left again. Hua Xing is at the complex in front of you. Parking can be found at the street below and you will need to take the lift up to the restaurant. See the google map for the location.)

*Disclaimer: The opinions expressed here is entirely based on my personal tastebuds and may vary for others. This review is time sensitive; changes may occur to the place later on that can affect this opinion. The reviewer also declares that she has not received any monetary or non-monetary compensation from this place for writing the review.

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